


Clockwork Dance

by Justanothersinger



Series: Protagshipping Week [2]
Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona Q, Persona Series
Genre: Enjoyyyy, M/M, This is late, anyway, for this week, hah, how the heck am i even a functioning adult, meh u dont care, or maybe not i dunno, probably gonna update the others too, real life issues are a pain, so after this depressing set of tags, u have a depressing story to read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-30
Updated: 2016-03-30
Packaged: 2018-05-28 15:14:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6334000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justanothersinger/pseuds/Justanothersinger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'He stands over there, on the edge of the universe. Waiting for a cue that will never come.'</p><p>Protagshipping Week Day 02: Moon/Gongoozler (noun) – an idle spectator, one who stares idly at something for a long time. AU with Doll!Minato.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Clockwork Dance

Clockwork Dance 

A Persona Fanfiction 

 

He stands over there, on the edge of the universe. 

His head is bowed, waiting for a cue that is yet to come. Hair brushing his cheek, lips pursed, eyes closed. 

 

 

At his feet, the stars swirl like cosmic dust wound around his ankles. 

 

The clink of a music box, masking Yu's footsteps.

 

"Wake up." 

He does. A soft sigh and he raises his head. Steel-cold eyes, far too intelligent for a heart of porcelain. 

 

He gazes at Yu with a curious expression until he realizes who he is. And then his expression relaxes into a familiar half-smile. 

  
  
"How long was I asleep?" 

Too long. Yu doesn't say it out loud though. 

 

He doesn't have a chance to speak. 

A hand, held out to him. When he takes it, the porcelain is cold on his skin. 

 

"A dance?" He says with a faint grin, "Isn't that why you're here?" 

"Not really." Yu says. But he doesn't pull away. 

 

He waits a bit until their heartbeats sync, and the music box changes in tempo on cue. 

A waltz. His hand is cold as Yu takes it in his. 

It slows down, slows down and the stars at their feet drift along. 

 

Until they've become less like stars and more like dust and fog. 

 

Footsteps, soft. Muffled. Barely at the edge of his hearing, the clack on a non-existent floor. 

 

Rhythmic footsteps and outstretched hands. He's barely aware of what they're doing. 

 

He sees colors at the edge of his vision.

But he focuses on the blue. 

 

He doesn't want to look away.

 

"This is kind of weird." He's the one who speaks up, not Yu. There's still that strange smile on his face. 

Like he knows what's to happen next. 

 

 

"You're saying that now?" Yu asks.   
 

"Something 'strange' for you is something completely normal." He points out, "It's not something I can say so easily." 

 

It's quiet again. The scenery shifts and changes. 

The warmth of the sun, the chill of the fog, there's fresh raindrops on their skin. 

 

"This isn't normal." Yu says finally.

"That's all you have to say?" He says, eyebrow raised, "The Earth itself is shifting around us."

 

"Yes, but this isn't the Earth." 

 

From somewhere, he hears the cracking of glass. The snapping of strings.

Fingers tightening on his back. 

 

He shouldn't look away. 

 

"I know." 

 

With that admission, the dream falls apart.

 

Before their eyes and under their feet. 

 

He can't see the colors anymore.

They've all faded to an empty white.

 

"You don't have long, do you?" He asks. His tone is stronger now, much stronger than what it usually was. 

Even after all this time, he was still so calm. 

 

"Not really. I couldn't ask for more."

More time, more days, an eternity with him.  

There was no way he could ask for that much more. 

 

"You definitely tried anyways." He says and there's a slight smile on his face again. Yu hates that smile. 

It doesn't reach his eyes. 

 

It's not like the ones he's seen before. 

 

"Is all you wanted a dance from me?" 

That question took longer to ask than Yu had thought.

 

"No."

"Are you afraid?" 

 

"No." Yu says this with little hesitation, "I'm not." 

"Are you sure about that?" 

 

Yu inhales. His hands ball into fist and the feel of his own fingers is so strange to the touch. 

 

"You're so much like him." 

 

It felt like it was weight behind his words. 

They tasted of guilt for some reason. He could barely even say them; they weighed down on his heart and mind, body and soul.

 

"That's the whole idea of this experiment." 

He pulls away. 

In front of Yu's eyes, he stretches his hand out to the side. 

 

His 'skin' is smooth porcelain, the color of a lying peach. 

 

"I am 'the person you want so desperately to meet.'" He says. Of course he is.

 

"I am not Arisato Minato." 

 

"...I know." Yu says finally, "I've managed to remember that for some reason. I don't know why." 

Yu looks down at his hand.

 

He still can't see the white tabs plastered onto his hand. 

 

"It happens. Hallucinogenic drugs can only do so much." He says matter-of-factly, "And..."

 

He trails off here. 

"And what?" Yu asks. 

 

"...Somehow, I felt that you wouldn't forget. That it would fail." 

 

Yu stares at him.

Now that he's fully aware, fully awake, he can see the serial number burned into the other man's neck, the strange emptiness of his gaze.

 

No matter how alike they were, it was a feature that accompanied every humanoid doll. 

 

"You should be going back any minute now."

 

Yu knows that. 

His mind is waking up. 

 

"Are you supposed to be telling me all this?" 

 

A tired smile, again. The doll's, not his. 

 

"Not really. But I've seen this happen before. I know what's to come next." 

The scenery around him shatters to black before he knows it. 

He's fading into the black. Slowly. Surely. 

 

"Are you tired of it all too?" 

Yu isn't sure why he asks that. The question itself seems to come out of nowhere. 

 

"I can't." The doll answers, "I'm programmed not to." 

 

Ah. 

He's waking up. 

His body is sweating, the ground is underneath him, his heart...

 

...Has stopped. 

 

"You can live again." 

 

Has the doll stopped pretending to be him?

Was that what Minato wanted to say? 

 

Was that what Minato would say to him?

 

He can't think. Nausea. 

Words swirling in his mind with no meaning. 

 

"Don't come back for me." 

 

Ah, that echo. It was an echo.

How did...

 

...he...

 

...know....

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

"No."

"But Yosuke." 

 

"No." 

"Yosuke." 

 

"I said", Yosuke has his head in his hands for the fourth time this week, "No. You are not going again." 

"Why not?"

 

"Partner, you have literally been bedridden for four days. You started eating rice slop yesterday. Hell, you starting  _eating_ again yesterday. There is no way I'm letting you go back in there." 

"Go back in?" 

"The Dollhouse, man! Y'know, the thing that literally left you half-dead for almost a week?" Yosuke blinks, "...Wait, did you really forget? Are you  _that_ out of it?" Yosuke waves a hand and it's uncomfortably close to his face, "Hellooo? What's 1+1?"

 

"A fox."

 

The expression on Yosuke's face is incredibly comical. Then he pauses and squints at Yu, "...Ha ha, very funny. Not exactly in a mood for jokes since my best friend almost died on me."

Yu manages a grin. Then closes his eyes. 

 

Of course, Yosuke already knows what he's talking about. 

 

"...Do you really want him back? That badly?"

 

When Yu doesn't answer, Yosuke draws back. His expression is deathly serious. 

 

"This isn't exactly a perfected science, even if they are being mass-produced. The drugs aren't perfect, and even if they were, people have literally starved themselves out because they weren't willing to exit the dream. It got to the point where they couldn't even live without the dolls." 

  
There's a bit of venom in Yosuke's voice at the word. 

 

"And even then, you still want to-"

 

"I do." 

 

It's getting harder and harder to keep awake now. 

It's not the sleepless nights catching up to him. 

 

_"You can live again."_

 

_I know. But I can't._

 

He couldn't forget for as long as he lived. 

 

"Yosuke. Can you call him again?" 

"...I really don't like this. But, yeah. Sure." 

 

As Yosuke takes his phone out, he asks this, almost an afterthought. 

 

"What name do you want to assign him? The doll, I mean?" 

 

_"Don't come back for me."_

 

"The same one." 

He can't even bring himself to say that name.

 

He's already that far gone. 

 

_I'm coming to meet you._

 

He's long lost interest in this life. 

 

_I love you._

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

**Author's Note:**

> Songs used for inspiration: 
> 
> One who Spins Samsara: Asura's Wrath OST  
> Main Theme: Amnesia:Memories OST  
> Terminus: Dysfunctional Systems OST


End file.
